ARTIST STATEMENT

My name is Cas Taylor (aka Pfeff).

In 2020, I learned that a birth defect had caused me to suffer a series of trans-ischemic attacks which had resulted in “three little holes” in my brain. Tremors. Migraines. Insomnia. Depression. Anxiety. Who knew “three little holes” in a brain could cause so much trouble or change a person so much? In reality, they did more than that: they afforded me an opportunity to grow.

I had been confronted with a decision: I could allow those “three little holes” to keep me stuck, or I could reimagine and reinvent my world, and myself, along with it.

Though navigating this new life with a TBI, PTS, and MDD often rendered me paralyzed, stuck in a place between grief and acceptance, I decided I would keep moving forward.

In creating these works, I’ve forged a path toward discovering the new layout of my brain and how it communicates with my body. With each brushstroke, there is a negotiation in meaning and understanding. These lines have become the language of my rehabilitation. Each one of them, a step, leading me further into an uncharted territory towards a greater knowing of who I am, now.

As an Iñupiat, I am called to use reclaimed materials whenever possible in my work. As a result, a number of the pieces exhibited here have been created using reclaimed wood.

I hope you will find these works as meditative to view as they were to create.

WHO (OR WHAT) IS A PFEFF?

Pfeff.

That’s how Douglas, the Rottweiler-Basset Hound rescue that stole my heart in December of 2021, first greeted me.

I put my hand to my chest and said, “Cas,” and looked at him. He simply snorted and said, once more, utterly convinced:

Pfeff.

And it stuck. Every morning, Doug greets me with a kiss on the cheek (or forehead or nose or eye!) and a gentle “Pfeff.”

My (human) name is Cas Taylor. I’m Doug’s person. I also happen to be a visual artist living and working in Olympia, WA--my hometown for nearly 40 years.

I make movies. I write poetry, short stories, books, and screenplays. I speak at conferences. I sculpt. I paint. I design sets for films. I create soundscapes and edit them, too. I’ve even won some awards. But, to Doug, who has saved me in more ways than one, I’m simply Pfeff.

And simple is the way we like it.



Thank you for your interest in my work. Feel free to contact me with inquiries